Theme: Hoes Down

A small sampling of the diverse pumpkin carvings at the Hoes Down.  — 

The Hoes Down Harvest Festival came (10/5) and went leaving many happy memories.  It was a tremendously successful, smooth day thanks to the help of hundreds of wonderful volunteers.  Thank you to all of our CSA members and other friends who came out to enjoy the farm in this perfect weather.   We are so thankful and appreciative of you all! [Read more…]

Last week Judith wrote a brief thanks for all who participated in this year’s Hoes Down Harvest festival. I would like to start this week’s Beet with a bit more if you can bear with me.  After a week of picking up the last of the remnants of the festival and putting them all away, there is a lingering sweetness for all of us here about the whole experience.  For those of you who attended, perhaps you have your own best moment, but there are a few for me that I would like to share.

The Hayfort….

We have been doing this structure for nearly all 30 years of the festival. Every year the builders request more straw bales- this year nearly 600 bales of straw were arranged safely to provide tunnels, climbing and scrambling, pirate lookouts, interior dark places and tight squeezes- designed to be too small for big folks- in fact parents aren’t allowed inside- it is a place to be brave and fearless- always remarkable for me how we as a species like to climb to the top, how we are explorers at heart and how our children have such stout hearts to navigate dark passages. [Read more…]

It’s hard to know quite what to say about the experience of having 5,500 people sweep through the farm over the weekend to set up a Festival and then take it right back down. The Hoes Down Harvest Festival was on Saturday 10/7.  It left us with many memories to share. This is truly a very special community event.  We had over 600 volunteers doing their shifts as best they could, coming to the Hoes Down to do their part to help.  There are families, many of whom are CSA members, that have been coming to the Festival for decades, so that it has become a family tradition for them and from our point of view, the Hoes Down wouldn’t be the same without them.  We want to thank all of our CSA members who came and helped out in so many big and little ways.  We truly appreciate all of you.

These kids made friends with a very special scarecrow.

We got a lot of dishes very dirty, and ran out of cleaning up steam on Saturday night.

Top Ten Reasons to Join Us at the 30th Annual Hoes Down Harvest Festival: 

Once again that time has come, when the air starts cooling down, the sun stays hidden for just a bit longer, and farmers feel some weight lift off their shoulders as the Summer season comes to an end. Fall is coming, a time when pumpkin patches start popping up, farms stay dark just a few minutes longer and the season of tomatoes and summer squash comes to an end. As people search out their Halloween decorations, and farmers pull out their mud boots, Full Belly gets ready for the Hoes Down Harvest Festival. 

This celebration is a chance to get out to the country and experience some good old-fashioned family fun. Although there are countless reason to come to the Hoes Down, I have done my best to pick the top 10!

#10: The Vendors! The farmers’ market features fresh fruits and veggies, the crafts area offers great crafty gifts from our artists and herbalists, and you can try your luck at our Silent Auction. [Read more…]

Last weekend’s, Hoes Down Harvest Festival was a wonderful celebration of the abundant vegetable, fruit, flower and nut harvest from the farms of California.  After a few very busy weeks of preparation, we are now focussing back on production. Many thanks to all of you who participated. Here are a few photos to give you a flavor of the activities.

Garden Ballerinas [Read more…]

Several score Hoes Down volunteers arrived at Full Belly Farm on Sunday 9/25, helping us prepare for October 1st. Festival weather is predicted to be mild, but our volunteers cheerfully worked through high heat to build the hay fort,  spread wood chips, clean the volunteer kitchen, make scarecrows, put up tents, clean supplies and all kinds of other jobs. The Hoes Down Festival is special for many reasons, but the outpouring of volunteer energy makes it wonderful and unique. Come celebrate sustainable agriculture, say goodbye to summer crops and welcome in the fall! [Read more…]

Another summer has come and gone at Full Belly Farm. Baby goats were born, tomatoes were packed, and our bellies were filled with delicious summer bounty. The farmers from Full Belly generally do not count time in ‘day-to-day’ – instead, we observe the changing seasons by the way the mornings feel (the cooler the better!), the flavors of the fruit, and the events that take place in our valley. The fall is a time when the Full Belly farmers celebrate the whirlwind that is our summertime. It is a precious time, full of total exhaustion and excitement, as we mark our calendars and create no fewer than fifty “to-do” lists to prepare for the wonderful festival that reminds us all to share the beauty of farm life. This year marks the 28th annual Hoes Down Harvest Festival. We hope you will join us. In case you need extra convincing, we have created a list of the Top Ten Reasons to come to the Hoes Down Harvest Festival at Full Belly Farm: 

#10 – The Location – If you and your family have yet to visit Full Belly Farm, this is a perfect time to do so! Not only are there walking tours (three of them!) of the entire farm throughout the day, but you will also get to see the animals and crops that we watch over each year. Come see a working farm get transformed into a full-on Festival!  [Read more…]

You are all invited to the 28th annual Hoes Down Harvest Festival taking place on the weekend of October 3rd and 4th at Full Belly Farm. Make a corn husk doll, paint a gourd, tour the farm, make ice cream, or try your hand in any step of the process from sheep to shawl. Dozens of hands-on workshops are offered on topics like organic fruit trees, grass-fed beef production, cow milking, herbs and flowers, small farm equipment and more! All of these activities are included in the price of admission. We have our music lineup chosen, from the contra dance led by Driving with Fergus to Wolfthump, the Dixie Giants and The Humidors.  

The Hoes Down is hosted by dozens of Capay Valley Farms and community organizations. The real muscle of the day are hundreds of volunteers who become a part of the Hoes Down by giving their time at one of the food booths, in the children’s area, in the parking lot — or in many other ways.  Volunteer shifts are 3 or 4 hours and we appreciate all of our volunteers by offering them free entry and camping. We are ready to sign you up for your shift — You can contact the Hoes Down volunteer coordinator through a portal on the Hoes Down web site volunteer page — we’ll get right back to you.

All proceeds from the Hoes Down are donated back to community organizations that participated in the weekend. For more information: http://www.hoesdown.org.

We don’t have photos of this year’s Hoes Down ready yet, but the weekend went really well.  If you have a favorite photo we invite you to send it to us and we will share it with other CSA members.

It’s always a little bit nerve-wracking to open up our farm to so many people.  It is a huge benefit to us that so many of our CSA members are part of the Hoes Down. We know that our CSA members will help us to keep the farm safe.  

Our volunteers were particularly inspiring this year.  We have many that come back year after year and know their jobs well.  The experienced volunteers teach the new volunteers what to do, and with 400 volunteers all working together, this kind of help is priceless.  

It takes us a while to get all of our figures in place, but every year so far, the Hoes Down has been able to make generous donations back to the community.  Thank you all so much for being a part of this wonderful Harvest celebration!